Age doesn’t matter when it comes to developing the attitude of being an explorer.

Adventure is most often associated with youth. Let’s not, however, confuse inexperience with adventure. To be an explorer of life is to see life as an adventure versus a chore or time served on the planet. I know adventurers who are 9 and those who are in their 90s. The choice is yours.

Cultivating a spirit of curiosity about the world is a noble endeavor, but don’t forget yourself.

The better you know who you are the richer that journey beyond you will be and become. The ultimate exploration is to know oneself because in the process of that journey you’ll face some very challenging ordeals (Hey, it’s an adventure!) that will clarify your thinking and provoke your beliefs. To understand your design, you’ll look into the mind and heart of the Designer. Wow!

“We must develop a compelling vision of later life: one that does not assume a trajectory of decline after fifty, but one that recognizes it as a time of change, growth, and new learning, a time when our courage gives us hope.”

“We are here to be excited from youth to old age, to have an insatiable curiosity about the world. Aldous Huxley once said that to carry the spirit of the child into old age is the secret of genius. And I buy that.

“We are also here to genuinely, humbly, and sincerely help others by practicing a friendly attitude. And every person is born for a purpose. Everyone has a God-given potential, in essence, built into them. And if we are to realize life to its fullest, we must realize that potential.”

This photo to the right is not Norman Vincent Peale. It is Mr. Six of Six Flags. I want to meet him! Dig the shoes! Watch him in action! (He’s actually an actor, not a real old guy but you get the point about the attitude.)

The aging process is inevitable.

How we age, however, is significantly within our control. Just because you might be part of an “aging population,” such as the Baby Boomers, it doesn’t mean that you are

over the hill

washed up

kaput

done for

Heck, you’re finally better equipped than ever.

Keith Lawrence is the co-author of Your Retirement Quest. Keith has been researching and advising those approaching and in retirement. Why wait to get started until you are retired or in assisted living to begin your Retirement Quest? Discover your Retirement Quest today regardless of what decade of life you are in.

Just about every day, I visit my Mom who is in her early 90s. This affords me the honor to meet her friends, many of whom are well into their 90s. One woman just turned 105 and looks like she is 75. I learn a lot from being with this Greatest Generation in this independent living facility. They’re an interested lot who read, discuss, debate, and embrace life. One observation I’ve had about this vital group—they aren’t the grumpy old people so often portrayed. They’re vibrant, interested, and interesting. As Peale recommends, they’ve carried a youthful curiosity into their advanced years.

Begin by discovering who you really are. Retirement age is not mandated by an employer or the government; it comes when we decide to stop discovering who we really are and what we are capable of achieving even to our death bed.

One of the oddities about an affluent society is our clothes closet. Many of us who have gained a few pounds over the years have two and, sometimes, three sets of clothes. I'm not talking seasonal clothing like winter and summer clothes. No I'm talking normal, fat, and even fatter. By the time most of us reach "even fatter," we've lost hope and finally given away the normal clothes settling for the fat and even fatter selection.

Since I've been in the process of reprogramming my eating through the Take Shape For Life system, I've dropped over thirty pounds since April 3. Yep, 30 pounds in 2 months. My "even fatter" clothes began drooping on me within a couple of weeks. After about a month, I was digging around into the "fat" set of clothes. Now they're bagging.

Over the weekend I bought two pair of men's pants and a pair of jeans – size 36! My belts no longer fit either. I've shrunk out of my 40s and 38s. I was looking like a homeless guy with baggy pants. Honestly, I can't remember wearing 36s. There were none in my closet. When I played a lot of competitive tennis – some 18 years ago – I was a size 34 tennis short. So to wear a 36 is like rediscovering my youth. What a joy for the baby boomer!

I am still in my fat burning state. Who knows, could 34s actually be in my life again? Why not? Honestly, the image of size 34 was so hopelessly erased from my self-perception that it is still hard for me to imagine it. And I'm a guy with vision! Yet I know it is not only possible, it is probable if I simply decide to commit to it. My goal weight is 190. At that weight the 36s will probably fit just fine. Then again size 34 might be just the thing.

There isn't a day that goes by that someone doesn't ask me about my weight loss and tell me how good I look. Never in my life have I had so many kind words spoken to me about my appearance. Family, friends, and clients have asked for my help so I decided to get smarter about TSFL so I can better advise them rightly. Plus, I love to learn. I am such a fan of Take Shape For Life that I accepted the invitation by Dr. Andersen to be trained as a Health Coach. I'll be trained by the best so I can help people be on-purpose with their health. My wife, Judith, is really the person most interested in actually doing the day-to-coaching with coaching. Together, we'll be learning. I'm a zealot about this life changing program that has helped move me toward optimal health and away from disease. I cannot NOT share it with you.

If you've done a want list and tournament on your Physical/Health Life Account and had "lose weight" show up as your top want, then TSFL may be the program just for you. Do you have an on-purpose plan to trim down and keep off the weight? Great! If not, then let's connect… on-purpose. Wouldn't you like to own a pair of on-purpose pants as well?